


Notice Me

by wedontslave



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dork Lexa (The 100), Eventual Romance, F/F, Fluff, Football | Soccer, Teen Crush, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-20
Updated: 2020-11-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 18:53:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27121399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wedontslave/pseuds/wedontslave
Summary: The thing about being at the top of every class, is that it means you are at the bottom of the social ladder. Yet, Lexa finds herself hopelessly crushing on the captain of the football team.*On temporary hiatus until further notice*
Relationships: Clarke Griffin/Lexa
Comments: 90
Kudos: 250





	1. Chapter 1

Like every other lunchtime, I sit in the library.

Hey, it’s like my sanctum. It’s the only place where I feel like I can be myself, it’s the only place where I feel comfortable.

Not outside, in the playground, with the other kids. Not at home, with my parents who keep on encouraging me to play with the other kids, be more sociable.

Excuse my language. I shouldn’t say ‘kids’, after all, I am already sixteen, and I wouldn’t say that people of my own age are ‘kids’. Maybe the term I shall refer to them in the future should be… ‘adolescents’. That doesn’t sound so bad.

Anyway, like I was saying the library is my safe place. No one bothers me here, and I can spend tons of time getting lost in the books that surround me. Call me a nerd all you want, but books are awesome. Fiction or non-fiction, I read them all. The good thing about fiction is that I can escape reality for a very long time, placing myself in an imaginative world, whether it be with dragons, superheroes, or fairies. Really, I like them all. And the good thing, I guess, about non-fiction is that you build a huge database of random information that is really interesting. Like, hey, did you know that a year in Venus is longer than a day? Or, um, did you know that polar bears can eat as much as like 85 penguins in one meal? That’s a lot of penguins, now I come to think of it. I feel a little bad for them.

But the sad truth is: who cares? No one wants to know how many calories you lose if you bang your head against the wall for an hour. Well, in case you do want to know, it’s 150. But yeah, no one cares.

But that doesn’t stop me from finding all about these small things. Hey, it’s my source of amusement! It’s a lot better than what kids, ahem, _adolescents_ these days do in their free time. They just spend all their time on their phones, it’s kind of sad. One day, they will all be wearing glasses like me. And then the meanies can no longer make fun of me for having four eyes or something. That just makes no sense anyway, I don’t even get why that is a thing! Having glass in front of your eyes does not make you have extra eyes. Having four eyes would be quite cool, I suppose. If I ignore the fact that it would make me look like an absolute freak, I will have like what, 5 times more vision. Plus, I will get to see what’s behind me, so I can see whoever’s sneaking up behind me for an RKO or whatever those cool kids call them. Not that I have ever got RKOed before, thankfully. I know it’s a thing because I see the jocks doing that on other jocks sometimes. Sometimes it is just for banter, and they don’t do it with intent to hurt. Other times… just ouch. I stay far away from them, some of them can be quite mean.

Oh, I just realised that I have not introduced myself yet. I’m Lexa. Lexa Woods. I am sixteen, and I am currently in eleventh grade, or junior year of Arkadia High. I have finals coming up next year, and while I should be revising and consolidating all the content well before the exams start, I just don’t feel the need to. Like, I know all the stuff already. It just comes easy to me, I guess. I think that it’s pretty cool how I can take one look at the board and memorise everything that is on it in an instant. People, like my parents, say that it is photographic memory. I say that it is just me being awesome. Okay, I am being narcissistic. Truth is, I am really shy. I don’t really talk to new people, because it doesn’t usually go well. And plus, while I may pride myself and compliment myself a lot in my internal monologues like the one I am having right now, my self-esteem is kind of low in school. I know, you may be thinking: how does that even make sense? Well, I’m not that popular. But that’s okay. Sometimes, being by yourself is the best way to go. You don’t want people stealing your credit when you do something that is worthy of mention. Like… when I won that maths competition last year. Yep. Came first place in the whole state.

The sad truth about school is, while you get top marks in every exam and become the smartest person in the school, it comes at a great cost: you are at the bottom of the social ladder.

It’s not like I don’t like people, I do. It’s just that I’m normally too scared to approach them. And they don’t approach me, because they just think that I’m a nerd who wears glasses, who spends all their day in the library reading. Oh dear, I just described myself.

Anyway, yeah. A friend would be nice. Yes, I do talk to some people on a somewhat regular basis, like I talk to Raven sometimes because she is also quite smart, but there is no one that pops to my mind if I ask myself: ‘Who is your best friend, Lexa?”

Okay, enough about me. Lunchtime is about to end, so I take one last look at my test paper that I got back last period: 98%. I mean, I still came top of the class by a long way, it was a super hard maths paper that stumped everyone but me, and I think that the person who came second was Raven Reyes, who got like mid 70 percent. I am still kicking myself for that simple mistake I made. How could I have thought that cosec theta was one over cos theta? It’s obviously one over sine theta. I’m so stupid sometimes.

I put my water bottle in my bag after tucking all my books and sheets inside as well, and I make my way out of the library, making sure to go the right way which basically allows me to go around the first-floor corridor, where all the people hang out. It’s not like they are bad people or anything, it’s just that going past so many people converged in one area makes me nervous.

I was so concentrated on getting out of the library, adjusting my bag straps on the way, that I don’t realise that there was a bulletin board right in front of me. I walk straight into it, and hit my head straight on the metal. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention, I can be extremely clumsy at times. Like, I tend to drop things on people’s feet. When they look at me incredulously like there’s something wrong with me I normally just give them a meek, apologetic smile and get the hell away from there. Maybe that is one of the factors contributing to why I don’t like to be around so many people at one place: there is more chance that I will hurt them, and I don’t want to hurt people. It makes me sad. But the thing is when there is no one around me to hurt, I tend to hurt myself instead. Like now. I remember one time last year when I tripped over my own feet on the pavement and I hit my head straight on a lamppost. Now that hurt like a bitch. Luckily, no one was around or I would've been the laughing stock of the whole town. My head had been throbbing so hard that I was forced to sleep on an ice pack that night. That was not a very good idea, because in the morning the whole bed was wet and dripping. I guess being book smart doesn’t mean that you are smart in life. I am learning, though. People learn new things every day.

When I finally recover from my brief injury, I take a look at my watch. It is currently 2 o’clock in the afternoon on Thursday, meaning that the school football team is about to have a game. The posters were all over the school over the past few days, advertising the event, because today we are playing our rival school, Maple Hills. Not that it needs any advertising, however. I had been looking forward to this game since last week. These matches normally take place during everyone’s free periods, and normally the library geeks stay in their library and do their thing there, I attend every game.

Now you may ask, why? Because there is someone on the football team that I like. Now she doesn’t know that I like her, maybe she doesn’t know that I exist in the first place, but she is drop-dead gorgeous. I don’t think that I have ever managed to get to talk to her before, because she does humanity subjects and I do sciences so we do not share any classes, but it doesn’t mean that I can’t have a crush on her.

Her name is Clarke Griffin. She is the captain of the football team and plays attacking midfielder, so she is basically the engine behind the whole team. She takes all the set-pieces, she takes the penalties, she sometimes scores but more often she makes key passes and assists. She is absolutely amazing, I am so proud of her.

I make my way to the school field where the pitch is. It is a home game, so I can see all the cheerleaders from my school cheering on the football team on the sidelines. I spot an empty seat next to the aisle where all the players will come out, so I sit there. It’s a good seat, and plus, there aren’t many people around me, so that no one will shout in my ear when someone scores. That has happened in the past, and I am pretty sure that I couldn’t get rid of the consistent buzzing that was in my ear for hours to come.

I hear the studs clacking on the floor before I see the players. The two teams made their way to the pitch in two separate files. Since Clarke plays quite high up the pitch, she is one of the last people in the line.

I see strands of golden hair before I see her. And when I do, just… ah. The way her shiny red uniform clings to her curves, the way her bright cerulean eyes sparkles under the sunlight, the way the tendrils of blonde hair flutters slightly in the breeze… she is literally my definition of perfection. She is so pretty. She's way out of my league though, but it doesn't mean that I can't admire her, right?

As she walks by me, I try to send a message telepathically. I have read some studies that claim it works, and some that say it doesn’t, but it can’t hurt to try, right?

_Please notice me, Clarke, please, just look my way._

Clarke’s head turned, and for a brief moment, her eyes met mine. My senses shut down as soon as we made eye contact, and despite the cheers around me, all I can make out is electric silence.

She gives me a warm smile before she turns back around and walks onto the pitch, warming up with her teammates.

Did she really just smile at me?

It’s not until the whistle blows, signalling the start of the game, that I move a muscle.


	2. Chapter 2

I don’t really know how to describe my state of mind during the time it took for the whole of the football team to warm up. I guess it was like… shock? Time kind of flew there.

I still can’t believe that Clarke had read my telepathic message and sent me a smile. Am I really psychic? Or was that just a pure coincidence? I have got to try it again.

Yeah, but during the blank of that time I guess I was just staring into blank space, and not registering anything. I try not to do things like that, like lose chunks of my time which could be spent productively doing other things, but when the girl of your dreams sends a _smile_ towards you, it is kind of hard not to do it.

I swear she just made my day. And now, I will get to watch her for a full 90 minutes, just running around the pitch, being awesome. Life is good.

“And the match has begun!” a voice to my left calls, and I turn my head to see who was shouting. The seat next to me is empty, but the seat to the left of that is occupied by someone, who is sitting in a group of other people. I shift forward slightly to see who he is sitting with, and am pleased to know that it is not the sweaty male sporty gang that sometimes attends these matches. I hate sitting next to them: all they do is holler at the pitch, talk about how fit some of the girls are, and if they are in a mean mood laugh about how women’s football is inferior and will never be as interesting as men’s football. I don’t like them.

The person who announced the start of the match is a medium-height Asian, Monty. I know most of the people in my year group by name, and I know him because he is in both my Maths class and Physics class, and he is also quite clever. I think that I got paired up with him in a practical one time, and he was a pretty good partner, but other than that I don’t think that we have ever spoken before.

Sitting next to the perky Asian is a slightly taller, lankier boy with goggles on his forehead for some reason. I am almost certain that his name is Jasper. We don’t have any classes together, but I heard that he is a bit of a mad chemist. This doesn’t surprise me, he looks just like the sort of person, probably because of the goggles and his rather hyper personality. It’s a shame that he’s not in my Chemistry class, I have a feeling that he would be quite interesting.

Sitting one seat further is a blonde girl called Harper. I think that she does humanities as well, so we never crossed paths before, and I only know her name because she joined the school a few years ago and asked me for directions as she was lost.

“The ball is immediately passed from the centre-forward to the centre attacking midfielder, the captain of the Reds, the one and only, Clarke Griffin,” Monty continues to commentate animatedly. “She has been a very consistent performer in the team throughout the entire season. Do you think that she will perform, Jasper?”

“Definitely,” Jasper responds, and it sounds so much like the two commentators on a football game that you see on TV that I am thoroughly amused. These people seem quite cool, I don’t normally like noise but when it is rather entertaining commentary I really don’t mind. “Last game, Miss Griffin managed to score a goal and get an assist, an incredible return. I don’t doubt for a second that she will contribute to the goals that the Reds will inevitably score, Monty.”

“Can’t agree more, Jas, although the goal was from the penalty spot.”

“Indeed, but it is the composure that is admirable from the Reds’ captain. Simply placed it calmly into the bottom left corner, right out of reach of the keeper’s hands.”

Just hearing the two boys talk about Clarke makes my heart warm. I am really proud of her that she has built up such a good rep in the school, being a good sportsman and all, but that does have a drawback – due to her intense popularity I don’t really stand a chance. But that is okay, though, she smiled at me earlier, so that has got to mean something, right? Plus, I don’t really mind just sitting here, watching her run around the pitch and calling to her teammates. I don’t mind watching her do anything, really. Oh god, I just made myself sound like such a creep.

“And the Reds are on the break!” Monty gasps. “After a little bit of tiki-taka play from them, the ball is distributed to the right-wing after the Blues get a little bit too aggressive! And just look at her run! Absolutely amazing, look at that pace!”

“Yes, Miss Echo Wilde is a feisty one,” Jasper drawls. “And she will be looking to whip one in quite soon, and no! She decides to slow down the pace after a quick break, probably seeing that there is only one Red in the box as she approaches the goal line on the opposing end. Smart play, that.”

“Indeed,” Monty says, and I find their commentary so amusing that I don’t find it hard to crack a smile. I like these people. Maybe, if I can muster up some courage, I can go and talk to them. Just a bit of courage. Maybe moving one seat to the left would be a good start.

Hmm, the game has just started. I still have plenty of time, I’ll stay here for now. It is a little bit of a scary prospect, speaking to people you don’t normally talk to.

“The ball goes back to the centre mid, and oh look! Griffin has the ball! What is she going to do?” Monty says, voice rising as his excitement grows.

“She passes the ball to the striker, Miss Octavia Blake, and she takes a shot! Oh, just wide!” Jasper places both his hands on his head. “I think that she sliced the ball slightly, which is why it went off target. No worries though, the attacking play is really solid at the early stages of the game, and they will definitely score, I am confident. It is only a matter of time.”

“I cannot agree more, Jas. And the Blues are playing it slow right now, just gaining tempo and momentum. This will be a good game.”

With that, the two boys become a little quieter. Maybe it is because the game is slowing slightly right now. But still, I keep my eyes intently on the game, or more specifically on the captain. I am not really that big of a fan of football for a person who comes to watch every game, but I am a huge fan of the captain. Call me biased, that I have a crush on her, but she is a truly good player. I don’t think that I can stress enough, but I am so proud of her.

It is about twenty minutes into the game when the first big event of the game happens.

“The Blues are on the counter after an uncharacteristic poor pass from Griffin!” Monty groans. “Look at their striker! And their midfielders! I don’t know their names, but they are _rapid_!”

“Yes, they are truly a unit,” Jasper says, in a bit of a trance. “Especially that striker of theirs, she is pretty peng, not going to lie. Just look at the way her legs move, look at her mane of brown hair flowing in the wind…”

“Not relevant, Jasper!” Monty scolds. “This is not good news! It is four against two! And… now it’s one on one!”

“And the peng brunette scores!” Jasper cheers. “God, I really need to get her number after the game, do you think that I will get to talk to her?”

Monty stares at Jasper as if he grew three heads. “No!” he says, frowning. “Why are you cheering for them? Who do you support?”

“Right, yeah,” Jasper shakes his head a little as if to shake himself from the trance that he got himself in. “It’s okay, though, even though the Reds are in a bit of a tough spot, being a goal down early in the game, they will fight hard for the comeback! You just wait and see!”

Monty says something in response, but his voice kind of fades away as I zero in on the blonde that plagues my dreams and thoughts. She is clapping her hands encouragingly, shouting to her teammates that it is okay, there is still time.

God, she is such a good leader. I think that I may have just fell a little bit more for her. It’s like a hole, and with every day a little bit is chipped away from the bottom, making the hole deeper. And I am in the hole, and I get deeper and deeper, as Clarke wedges herself more and more into my heart, and all I can see is the landscape starting to disappear as my eyes drop below ground level…

Okay, that metaphor is truly awful. You get why I don’t do humanities now?

I watch in tense silence, closing off Monty and Jasper’s drones of their commentary for quite a significant portion of the game after that. Clarke’s team is fighting back quite hard, but it seems like Maple Hills is defending really well. I am pretty sure that they substituted an attacker for a defender, those sneaky bitches! It’s okay, I am still holding onto hope.

“It is now the eighty-eighth minute of the game,” Monty states, a lot less enthusiastic now. I guess that he had burned all his energy throughout the game with his animated commentary, or that he is a bit miffed that our team still hadn’t scored yet. “And even though we are fighting back valiantly, Maple is still holding on, unfortunately. There isn’t much time left, we must hurry!”

“Look!” Harper suddenly shouts and I jolt. I don’t think that she has spoken a single word throughout the whole game, so to say that I am surprised would be an understatement. “Echo is breaking!”

“Oh yes, she is!” Jasper exclaims, energetically now that we have another chance, maybe the last one. “Look at her go! I am very surprised that she is still able to sprint after ninety minutes in the game, her stamina is amazing! Clarke is also running, using some of the last of her energy to outpace the defenders! Octavia is a bit behind, not quite catching up, but that’s okay, it’s two against one!”

“And Echo lays the ball to Clarke, and OOH, nice skill from the blonde there,” Monty enthuses. “She manages to skill past their lone defender, and now it is one-on-one with the keeper! GO GO GO! GO CLARKE!” he screams as Clarke starts to approach the edge of the penalty box, fully in control of the ball, with no one between her and the goal except for the goalkeeper.

The tension is high. I can literally feel the electricity, I can hear it. It is buzzing.

Then I hear a low groan throughout the whole stand.

“That is extremely dirty play from the keeper,” Jasper seethes. “Did you see that? How could she?”

I cast my eyes fearfully back onto the pitch and Clarke is on the ground, clutching at her calf. I saw what happened: the keeper did a bad slide tackle and missed the ball completely, catching the blonde’s legs instead and sending her flying into the grass.

Seeing Clarke in pain makes my heart hurt. My poor baby.

Hmm. I don’t have any claim to her. But still, my poor baby.

“Yes, that is definitely a red card,” Monty says, excited again. “And now it is a penalty, and they lost their keeper! And Clarke is back on her feet, what a strong young woman she is, and it looks like she is going to take the penalty! Is she going to save the game for the Reds and take it to extra time, or is she going to miss?”

“Don’t say that, Monty, of course she is going to score!” Jasper says. “Now hush, she is going to take the penalty!”

The crowd grows silent as Clarke measures steps, taking a few steps backwards from the ball that is now placed neatly on the spot.

Time seems to freeze. One of Maple’s outfield players is now playing in goal, surely she won’t have the skills to save it, right?

Oh yes, telepathy. _Clarke!_ I scream out in my head. _You can do this, I have faith in you!_

I see Clarke’s shoulders rise and fall as she takes deep breaths, no doubt under immense pressure. The game is on the line with this kick, after all.

I see the waves of her blonde hair move slightly and she turns her head.

Her eyes seem to be searching, until they finds their target.

And that target is me.

She nods, and smiles.

What on earth? Am I really psychic? My crush really just smiled at me two times in one day.

Oh my god, I feel so happy! She smiled at me! Twice!

Her turning back around to face the goal brings me back to the present. Right, the game.

The whole audience holds their breath as she starts to run towards the ball placed neatly on the penalty spot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is this story worth continuing? I don't really want to commit to a fic if it isn't worth it.  
> For those non-football/soccer fans, don't worry, this story won't be this football-centric, if I am to write it out to its full. There is a lot more to school life than football!  
> Anyway, take care!


	3. Chapter 3

I remember the last time Clarke had to take a penalty in injury time. It was in the group stage of the tournament, and the score was 1-1. If Clarke scored then, she would’ve won the game for the team.

Unfortunately, the keeper guessed right and saved the shot. The shot wasn’t bad, it was a low driven shot into the bottom-right corner, but the keeper dove the right way and parried it away from the goal.

It wasn’t that big of a deal, because it was just the group stage, and they got through to the knockout stage so it all worked out in the end, but I could tell how sad Clarke was for not getting the team 3 points. I think that she blamed herself for missing the penalty, but really, it wasn’t her fault. She did all she could, but the keeper did better.

And now, time seems to slow down as Clarke approaches the ball placed neatly on the penalty spot. The atmosphere is almost buzzing with electricity, everyone anticipating the deciding kick. Except this time the circumstances are quite different: this is the quarter-final game of the state championship, and if Clarke doesn’t score this, her team would be out of the tournament. I can’t really imagine how much pressure she’s in, it must be even more than when I was neck-on-neck with some Asian boy from another school in the General Knowledge Quiz Championship!

I won by the way, but that’s beside the point.

I watch as Clarke plants her right foot on the floor and strikes the ball with her left foot. She has gone for power over accuracy, and I nearly miss where the ball went, because it is so fast.

The keeper goes the right way.

The ball wasn’t placed that far to the side, so the keeper is able to reach it. I see her touch it with her hand, but her wrist isn’t strong enough to keep the ball out of the net.

The ball soars through and hits the back of the net.

“And was there really any doubt?” Monty shouts jubilantly as the whistle blows and the referee pointed to the centre of the pitch, signalling a goal. “And we are in extra time most definitely, the game is now tied at 1-1, Clarke saving the team yet again!”

“Now the team needs to watch out,” Jasper warns. “It is really physically demanding to play the full 120 minutes, so they need to watch how much energy they are burning. They get a short break now, but they still need to be careful.”

“That’s right,” Monty smiles as the final whistle blows. “They get ten minutes now. This will be really interesting, as the teams now have to decide whether to play it risky and go for the win in extra time, or to play it safe and let it go to penalties.”

“Yes, and the thing about penalties is that it really can go either way,” Jasper muses. “Sometimes this is how upsets happen, when the weaker team gets lucky in penalties and win the game.”

“I wouldn’t say _lucky_ necessarily,” Monty says. “Sometimes the keeper saves the day. You remember the game last year when our keeper saved 3 penalties out of 5?”

“Hero,” Jasper nodded and clapped his hands. “A true hero of the game, she got man of the match that game, I am pretty sure.”

“Lexa?” I hear someone call and I whip my head around, slightly confused and if I have to be honest, scared. Who calls my name? No one usually speaks to me, normally when I have some form of conversation with another person is because I initiate it, and I barely initiate conversations. And besides, my conversations are most usually work-based.

But when I turn around, I don’t see any bullies or jocks who want to pick on me, thankfully. It’s Harper.

“They can be quite annoying,” Harper sighs as she makes her way over and sits next to me.

“I wouldn’t say that they are _annoying_ ,” I mumble. “It was quite entertaining, if anything.”

“It was at first,” Harper agrees. “But if you have to sit through that every time, it kind of gets boring.”

“I get where you’re coming from,” I nod. Then I feel a bead of sweat start to trail down the nape of my neck, because this situation is going to get awkward fast. The thing about conversation is that with me we normally fall into these extended silences when neither of us knows what to say. So it gets a bit uncomfortable, and that is why I don’t tend to talk to people in the first place. “So…” I drawl, desperate to make some kind of conversation. “How do you know my name?”

“Um, we’re in the same year?” Harper frowns slightly. “Why wouldn’t I know your name?”

“I-I don’t know,” I stutter. “I guess I don’t really talk to people I guess, so I just figured that they wouldn’t know who I am.”

“That’s silly,” Harper chuckles. “I know who you are. You’re the super smart girl who wins all sorts of awards, like Maths, Quiz, Linguistics, everything. It’s kind of hard not to know who you are when you go up in assembly to collect these massive trophies from the headteacher.”

I feel my face heat up. I am so embarrassed. Although, does that mean… that Clarke knows who I am? I mean, if Harper says that it is hard to not know me because I get so much recognition among the teachers, then surely Clarke knows who I am, right? Is that why she smiled at me… twice? But why would she do that? I am no more than a person in the year to her. I haven’t even spoken to her like ever, and I have known her for 5 years ever since I joined Arkadia High. Call me pathetic, but I think that I have been crushing on her all this time. And I still haven’t done anything about it.

“Um, oh,” I mumble, blushing. “Well, that’s kind of embarrassing, I had no idea.”

“It’s not!” Harper reassures. “If anything, it is amazing. It’s such an achievement, I can barely understand a tenth of what you learn. Sciences are hard.”

“I guess,” I shrug. “But I admire humanities too. You do them, right?” Harper nods. “Yeah, it is a very different way of thinking, a lot less boring than the good old’ sciences.”

“I guess the thing about humanities is that… most of the time there is no wrong answer. Which is why it can be really interesting to hear what other people think, because they are just different ways of looking at one thing, like looking at, um, say a cube from different faces, you get what I mean?” Harper says.

“That is true, I wish I wasn’t so brain dead in those subjects,” I say, not wistfully because I have learnt to cherish what you have. I don’t mind being bad at humanities, it is simply not my field. My abilities in the science side of the academic spectrum more than make up for it.

“And the team is back after a short 10-minute break,” Jasper announces and that is when I realise that the game is about to start again. “Will we win? Or will we lose?”

“Can we switch seats?” Harper says, and when I look at her questioningly, she says, “I figure that their commentary would be quieter there.”

“It’s negligible,” I say. “But I guess, if you want to.” Harper smiles and we switch seats.

“So, Octavia kicks the ball and the game has started!” Monty enthuses. “And look, it appears that the Reds are going for the risky approach! They really don’t want to take this game to penalties!”

“Yes, it appears that they have had a change in formation,” Jasper says, hand on his chin. “Before, they were playing the classic 4-2-3-1, and now it appears that they have shifted into the slightly more defensive 4-5-1. Yet, the five midfielders are pushing up the field, and they have more or less 6 attackers.”

“And look! Clarke takes a shot from range and it is really good, but their keeper is good enough to parry it away for a corner!” Monty says.

“Quite surprising, considering that the keeper doesn’t play keeper normally. But hey, this is high school football, right? There can be plenty of surprises.” Jasper says.

“That’s right,” Monty replies. “And look! Clarke goes for an outswinger with her left foot and it curls into the box and… WOAH! Our new substitute, Hannah, heads the ball in! What a substitution! Now the score is 2-1 to us!”

I can’t help but start to cheer in the stands with the rest of the audience. I don’t usually, but when this is a game that we come back from behind? They need all the encouragement and support they can get. Also, this is a good game for Clarke. She has scored a goal and made an assist, this is amazing! She is so badass!

“And look, the Blues are starting off the game quickly, I think that they may be starting to get slightly desperate, since they only have 25 minutes,” Jasper says. “That may seem like a long time, but the pace is going to slow down now as the players will get tired, so really, it is not that much time at all.”

“Oh look! The formation has shifted again, and now we are playing 5 at the back! I think we all know what strategy they are opting for now.”

“Parking the bus,” Jasper smirks. “That’s quite clever, actually. They decided to play attacking football because the Blues are a man down, and they don’t have a proper keeper. I guess they decided to try and score and defend for the rest of the game. A solid tactic, that.”

I watch the game go on quietly, watching how Maple has most of the possession, but we are holding strong with solid defence. I think that the formation is now something like 5-4-1, so they really don’t have a chance, not when they are a man down. I guess now we are playing counter-attack football, when they lose possession and we break fast, and since they don’t have any energy we can probably look to score and double the lead.

“And, the captain is coming off,” Monty applauds with the audience. “Clarke has had a strong game, a goal and an assist, but did we expect anything less? She’s coming off for a defender, we really are going all out defence! Everyone, applaud for your captain!”

Seeing Clarke start to walk off the pitch, I clap my hands loudly. I don’t dare to whoop yet, I am not that brave.

Clarke hears Monty’s cry for applause and she looks up and smiles softly, appreciating Monty’s support. Then her eyes drag across a few seats and I can swear she meets my eyes again.

Three times in one day!?

Her smile never wavers as she disappears to the changing room.

I feel like I can scream. Before today, I don’t think that Clarke has ever so much as acknowledged me before. And today, she smiled at me not once, not twice, but three times! She just made my day. What’s the date today? It’s the fourteenth, isn’t it?

14 is now my lucky number.

And when the whistle blows signalling full time, that is when the cheers really begin. The score stayed at 2-1.

Clarke won us the game.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First Clexa interaction next chapter ;)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoy this one! I enjoyed writing this chapter, that's for sure.

It has now been two weeks since I witnessed Clarke have one of her… well I would say best games, but that is really not the case. She had scored hattricks before, it’s amazing, since she is a midfielder. Once I saw her come on after half-time and saw her score four goals in the space of fifteen minutes. But then the opponent was really bad, the final score was like 7-0 or something in that range, but still, she is clinical inside the box, outside the box, she is so amazing. Still, the game she had two weeks ago was a really important one, she performed when she needed to, she got man of the match. Yay!

Anyway, as it is nearing February, it is getting really cold. Most people say that the coldest time of the year is late December or early January, but I don’t think so, because statistically, in a country the coldest temperatures are near the end of January and the start of February. The wind is literally constantly stabbing me in the cheek, I’m surprised that it hasn’t snowed yet this year. I blame it on global warming.

Over the past few weeks, I haven’t really managed to see Clarke much at all, unfortunately. She is always surrounded by people, she’s so popular. I think that it is great that she is so popular, but then that does mean that it is nearly impossible for a nobody like me to get close to her. Not that I would get close to her in the first place if she wasn’t this popular. I blame this on my social anxiety.

I must admit that there were times when I was like _‘Just talk to her, you fool! She’s standing right there!’_. I would stare at her side profile for a while, then I would take a tentative step forward, opening my mouth to say a lame ‘Hi’ as a conversation starter. This is how I had envisioned the conversation would go then.

“Hi,” I would say. Clarke would turn around, and then she would scan me from head to toe, eventually settling on my boobs.

“Hi,” she would reply in a slightly flirtatious manner.

“So, um…” I know that I would fumble here.

“I know who you are,” Clarke would grin mischievously. “You’re the one and only Lexa Woods, right? It’s really nice to talk to you in person.”

“Ah, well,” I would blush. “Thanks! You look lovely today.” Look at me, I have got game.

“Aw, that’s sweet,” Clarke would bite her lips cutely. “I think you’re beautiful. Wanna date?”

And then I would hold her hand and we would go running away in the sunset, autumn leaves falling in our trail because we are just so awesome.

So that was what I had imagined would happen, or rather hoped would happen, but in reality, I opened my mouth and then my heart suddenly told me that it couldn’t take any more stress as it was already beating so fast, so I dashed out of there. I nearly killed my kidney on the corner of a table, but I was able to regain my footing and I got the hell away from there.

It is almost embarrassing how shy I am. I don’t think that I can hold eye contact for more than five seconds. It’s true, I tried playing this game with Raven the other day because she was conducting a statistics project, and I was one of her test subjects. She told me that we would have to look into each other’s eyes for as long as possible without smiling, and she would time me. I told her okay, and we started the game. Raven is an absolute monster, she had this poker face that was just untouchable, and I lost in two and a half seconds. I got put straight to the bottom of the leaderboard, and she had patted me on the back sympathetically, saying, “You can’t win them all, Lex.”

So lunchtime is about to end, again. I spend pretty much the entirety of lunchtime in the library, I don’t even eat in the cafeteria, because there are just so many people it makes me nervous. I know, I am pathetic, no need to make fun of me, okay? Anyway, I know that I am not meant to eat in the library, it is against the school rules, but I do it anyway. The librarian had caught me eating once and sent me out, and I was forced to spend the rest of my lunchtime in nervous anxiety in the common room while people were blasting music and chasing each other like lunatics. I had vowed to never let that happen again, so at lunchtime I would hide in a corner and stuff some homemade sandwiches in my mouth very quickly. I am not going to eat in the toilet, I have dignity.

I pack my books in my bag when I hear the bell ring. But then my zipper decided to get stuck to the side of the bag, and it wouldn’t budge. So I spend about two minutes trying to fix the zipper, and when I finally fix it, I zip my bag shut and I hurry out the library. The next lesson is going to be Maths, which is great because it does mean that I can sit there and do nothing because I know all the stuff already. Like, come on, I would think that everyone knows differentiation. You literally multiply the power by the coefficient and subtract the power by 1. Easy. Well, apparently I am wrong, because people do struggle with this stuff.

So I hurry, because I have never been late to class before, and I don’t intend to be late ever. I am pretty much the star student, a ‘teacher’s pet’ some mean people would call me, so I am not going to let my teacher down. I don’t even bother going the long way round. I need to get to class on time!

However, I am walking so fast that I don’t even look at what, or rather, who is in front of me.

So, um, you can probably predict the inevitable, but I crash into something. This time it is not the bulletin board, or a lamppost, or even a goal post. This time it was a person.

I hit the side of the person, so using simple physics, I ricochet off this person at an angle, and since my initial resultant force is directly forwards, I lose my balance and I go sprawling towards the floor. Unfortunately, my glasses fall off my face and I feel my zipper breaking again, sending books flying everywhere.

This is so embarrassing. Why am I such a klutz? I hear faint laughter around me, probably because I am just uncoordinated, but I don’t register them. My vision is a haze, it is so blurry, because my glasses fell off and I have no idea where it is. Why do I have to fall, on the first floor of the main block of all places, right in front of everyone?

Someone taps me on the shoulder and I turn to look at the person, and since my vision is horrible all I can make out is someone with a mane of blonde hair. I don’t know who this is, but then I realise that she is offering my glasses to me, which she probably picked up after I most likely crashed into her. She was standing still as well, so this was all my fault, ugh, this is so embarrassing.

I take the glasses off her hand gratefully and that was when I can see properly. The first thing I see is the huge amount of books around the person’s feet. Well, I will have to pick that up, and then fix my zipper, and I will most definitely be late to class. Why is life being mean to me?

But then my eyes pan upwards and I see who this person is. My heart stops.

Clarke Griffin is standing in front of me.

Oh my god, what do I do? What should I do? My crush is standing in front of me! Ahhhh! And… I literally made a fool of myself the first time we are within a metre of each other. Why? Whyyyy?

God, her eyes are _so_ beautiful. I want to swim in them all day…

“Here,” the voice of an angel tells me. After a second I realise that it is Clarke’s voice. “You dropped some books,” she said, handing me two or three books.

I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. I don’t want to come across as an ungrateful bitch to my crush! I want to, no I _need_ to say a thank you or something!

“Oh, your zipper is broken,” Clarke frowns slightly and I find it so cute. “You’ll probably need a new bag, Lexa.”

Wait. Hold up. She knows my name!?

Clarke Griffin knows my name.

“Y-You know who I am?” I say when I finally find my voice.

“Yeah?” Clarke gives me a weird look. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well, um,” I brush some tendrils of hair away from my face. “I just figure that, um, we never talked before, and we don’t share any classes, and… er….”

Clarke laughs. She holds her hand out for me to take, and I do, and she helps me up to my feet. All I can register, however, is how nicely her hand fits in mine, though. She will be a good hand holder.

Did I just make her laugh? Was she laughing _at_ me, or was she laughing _with_ me? I seriously hope that it is the latter.

“Of course I know who you are,” she says, handing me more books as well as the broken bag. “The girl who wins everything, every competition she goes to.”

“Oh,” I feel my cheeks start to heat up. If that’s what she knows me as, I guess that’s fine. At least I’m not known as ‘the klutz who trips over her own feet’. “Well, not _every_ one, I came second in the linguistics competition last year.”

“You get what I mean,” Clarke chuckles and it is like music to my ears. God, she is so pretty.

“Yeah, I guess. Thank you, Clarke,” I say. Finally, there’s that _thank you_! I need to say sorry next, for barging into her like a drunkard who doesn’t know which way is up.

“Oh,” she raises her eyebrows. “So you _do_ know my name.”

“Huh?” I frown. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“Well, according to you, if we have never talked before, we don’t know each other’s name. That’s not the case, is it?” Is she teasing? Seriously that is hot.

“No,” I blush. “Um, also I am sorry.”

“For what?” she asks.

“For um, running into you. That was totally my fault, I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine, you look like you got the worse end of it,” Clarke says contemplatively. “Are you alright? Does it hurt anywhere?”

Oh my god, she cares about my physical wellbeing.

“No, I’m good, except I’m now really late for class,” I say, because it is true. But then I realise that I am ending the conversation. No! I don’t want to end what is probably going to be my only conversation with Clarke!

“Yeah, me too,” Clarke chuckles, picking up the last book and stacking it on top of the other books in my hand. “What do you have now?”

“Maths,” I reply.

“Of course,” she smiles. “You’re insane at it, I swear you know all the stuff already.”

“Maybe,” I smile back shyly. I feel so flattered! “So… what do you have now?” I ask, desperate to keep the conversation going.

“History,” she replies. “So, um, I guess I’ll see you around?”

Wait, does that mean we will talk again?

“Yeah, see ya,” I smile. “Thank you so much for picking up my stuff, by the way.”

“It’s no problem at all. Bye,” she gives a small wave, and then she is turning around to walk in the opposite direction that I am headed in.

I just stand there, the corridor now empty because everyone has gone to class.

I just talked to Clarke. Ahh! I feel so giddy that I feel like I can scream. But then I am in school, so I probably shouldn’t do that.

School. I only remember now that I have Maths class to go to. I will be late for the first time, but it’s worth it, because I talked to Clarke!

Still, I start running towards the classroom that I am meant to be going to, hoping that I don’t fall again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments make my day. Make my day... pretty please?


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a while... I'm sorry, life throws things at me.  
> I hope you enjoy!

These past two weeks have been great. Well, to be honest, nothing much has changed, life is still normal, except now I can live in the knowledge that Clarke knows who I am! And, I actually managed to have a proper conversation with her! Well, the circumstances were not ideal, I fell right in front of her, but she was nice enough to pick up my books and help me sort out my stuff! She is just as nice to me in real life as she is in my dreams.

Oh, oops. I didn’t mean to admit that. I promise you I have not been having dreams of Clarke Griffin!

Okay, that’s a lie, and I don’t really like to lie. The thing about lies is that you have to remember both the truth and the lie, which is extra effort, so why bother? But my dreams about Clarke are totally innocent! Like it is a hand hold at most when we will stroll down the street. I would get a little cold as it is now mid-February and she would offer me her coat, and I would accept it gratefully. But then she would be cold, and then I would see her slightly pink cheeks and red nose, and I would offer her the coat right back, but she would protest at first, but I would insist. She would begrudgingly take her coat back, and we would go to a coffee shop and have some hot chocolate or something. See? Totally innocent. It’s not like I see my legs tangled in hers or anything. Although that doesn’t mean I don’t want one of those dreams. I just haven’t had one of them yet. Soon, maybe soon.

Did I say that it was mid-February today? Well, I think that I can elaborate a little further. It is the fourteenth, or more specifically, Valentine’s day. I did say that 14 was my lucky number. So that makes it a whole complete month since that football game, since Clarke smiled at me. My insides still go all warm and fuzzy when I think of it… I don’t think that I can be prouder than her, and she is not even my property yet.

Note the word ‘yet’. She will be. People say that if you pursue things hard enough, you will get it in the end. And Clarke Griffin is definitely worth that hard pursuit. The thing is, sadly I have no idea how to do that. I am kind of useless when it comes to relationships: if I can’t make friends, how can I make a girlfriend? I haven’t even outed myself yet! Grr.

Although I have given some relationship advice in the past. I may or may not be responsible for some breakups, after all, no one can prove that my advice was what triggered the breakup.

Anyway, since it is the 14th, there have been all those kinds of Valentine things going on around school. Like there is this delivery system that my school runs that allows you to send a small present to anyone else you want in this school, in a ‘Valentiney” manner. I sent Clarke a nice small box of chocolates, and initially, I had wanted to put my name on it, but then that probably would’ve been too much too fast so I just sent it anonymously. Too bad that Clarke would think that it is from Finn or Bellamy or someone like that. But it’s okay, I hope she likes the chocolates.

Other than that going around, I think that Valentine’s is a little bit overhyped. Like, sure, there are some couples going around in my year group, but realistically, are they going to kiss in front of everyone just because it’s Valentine's? No. It’s just another day.

So the day kind of flew by for me, because well I think that it is pretty obvious that I am single. I did not receive any of those chocolate eggs that I saw some of my classmates get, so yeah, today might as well be any other day of the week. Although, I am proud to say that I ate in the cafeteria today. Well, I kind of had to because I got caught eating in the library again, and the librarian threatened to ban me from the library for 2 weeks if she catches me again. Since the library is my sanctuary, I didn’t really have a choice. Eating in the cafeteria is fine, I guess, I just sat in the corner away from all the chatter. I am more of a keep-to-myself kind of person, if you haven’t got that already.

Since it is winter time and it is now late afternoon, it is quite dark outside, since the sun sets quite early now. This meant that I am more prone to some mishaps because I can see less well, but so far it is going well, probably because it is the 14th today and of course 14 is my lucky number. I am now nearly halfway home, and I am already really looking forward to a nice hot bath when I get home. The temperature right now is like the worst: it is really cold that your cheeks feel like they are constantly being whipped, but then it is not cold enough for snow. It is sad, because if it rains then it feels like shards of ice are falling from the sky. Yes, I know that it is called hail.

But all that ice has melted somewhat, so now there are ice-cold puddles on the floor next to the pavement that I am walking on. All that I can hope for now is that no car speeds through those puddles and splashes me with freezing water.

So, what am I going to do when I get home? Hmm, I don’t really know. I probably will just a book or something. Or… I don’t know, write something down, like a novel or my thoughts or something like that so that I can look at it in five years and cringe at how hopeless I am now. Or… maybe I can –

I see the bright headlights of a car before I hear it. Unfortunately, since it is quite dark and there aren’t street lamps near where I am, I don’t think that the driver sees me. But then that’s what headlights are for, right? I don’t know, but what I do know is that the driver just drives at full speed past me.

Remember what I said a little earlier? All the freezing water got sent towards me like a mini tsunami and splashed me from head to toe, drenching me completely.

That’s not even the worst of it. The water is freaking muddy!

14 is no longer my lucky number.

Now I don’t get angry very often, but I suddenly feel a need to flip the driver off. But I don’t do that, if he or she doesn’t even see me how will they see my middle finger? There’s no point. All I can do now is assess the damage and stop my teeth from chattering.

God! It is so cold!

I let out a shaky sigh as I remove my bag from my shoulders and examine it. It is completely soaked with muddy water, so there is no doubt that all the books inside will be soaked. And there goes my notes, basically. Good thing that I already know all the stuff, eh?

It’s a bit of a shame because I just got a new bag. Either I can clean this up or I will have to get a new one, and if it is the latter I don’t think that my mum will be very happy.

I huff out cold air and assess my clothes. My shirt is now clinging onto my skin unpleasantly, because it is really cold, and my socks are also all wet. Okay, I really need to get home. ASAP.

I see headlights upon me again and I swear internally. It was bad enough that I had to be splashed once, do I really have to be splashed again?

But then the car doesn’t speed past me, instead, it stops. Right next to me, where I am slightly doubled over from the cold on the pavement.

I stare at the car confused for a few seconds before I come to a horrifying realisation.

I am being mugged!

What goes through my head right now? One thing. Run.

Fight or flight? Flight all the way.

I hastily pick up my bag and start to make my way out of there, but then my legs suddenly slip on the wet floor and I nearly fall. But I catch myself last second so I don’t, thank god for that.

“Wait!” I hear a voice. “Don’t go!”

Now you know how the police normally tells the criminals that they’re chasing to ‘Stop!’? That never works. But the voice’s command works this time, only because I hear _the_ voice.

I turn my head around to see the driver and I swear my vision gets brighter when I realise who it is.

Clarke.

She lowers the window and sticks her head out. “Do you want a ride home?” she asks.

Wait. What is going on?

I must have continued to stare at her blankly, because Clarke keeps talking. “You look really cold,” she notes. “Come in, it’s warm in here.”

“B-But I’ll get your seat all wet and d-dirty,” I say, unable to keep the stutter from my voice. Whether that is because my teeth are constantly chattering or because I am talking to my long-term crush, I don’t know.

“It’s okay,” Clarke reassures, giving a soft smile that warms my heart, sending a pleasant warm tingle through my cold skin. “I don’t mind.”

I don’t need to be asked twice. She is literally like someone sent down from above, because I am in dire need of a ride right now.

I make my way to the other side of the car and settle myself in the passenger seat. I try to not make her seat dirty or wet, but I fail within seconds.

“Sorry,” I mumble as I look at the mud that is now colouring her pristine leather seats.

“Don’t worry about it,” Clarke says, looking straight into my eyes. “I saw what happened earlier, I’m sorry about that,” she says. Is she pouting? That’s so cute!

“It’s okay,” I am still trembling, even though it is considerably warmer inside. “Nothing out of the ordinary. Are you sure you’re okay with giving me a ride?” I ask, just to make sure.

Clarke frowns a little bit. “Of course! My house is just on the way.”

I kind of want to make a point that I am almost sure that that is not the truth, because I have seen more than once Clarke drive off in the opposite direction when she is heading home from school, but I bite my tongue. Both metaphorically and literally, because I really am biting my tongue to stop my teeth from chattering.

“T-Thank you so much,” I say gratefully.

Clarke simply smiles and sets the car in motion again, and through a short while where all I hear is the soft hum of the engine, I try to get rid of the wet hair from my face and control how much I am dripping. Okay, that sounds kind of wanky, I didn’t mean that. I meant it literally, I don’t want to get too much muddy water in her car. It would be very difficult to clean.

We don’t really make any conversation throughout the whole ride, because as you all know I am quite shy and I don’t tend to start conversation. Clarke isn’t talking either, but that’s not surprising considering we have never really talked before, so it would make sense for her to not know what to say either.

Although what is interesting is that she is not asking for any directions. She is weaving through the streets, taking all the right turns and twists to my house.

“We’re here,” Clarke comments and I jolt. It felt like no time has passed at all. “This is your house, right?” she asks.

I look out the window and she is right. We are parked right outside my house.

How the hell does she know where I live?

“Uh, yeah,” I say gratefully. “Thank you so much, Clarke, you’re a lifesaver.”

“It’s really no problem, Lex,” Clarke smiles.

 _Lex_. That sounds really nice. No one has ever called me that before.

I kind of want to stay behind and try and make more conversation with her, because I don’t really want to get out of the car and end the time I have with my crush, but I really really need a hot bath.

“Thank you,” I give a shaky smile and I get out of the car, and start to make my way to the front door. I look back once more and Clarke smiles at me and gives me a wave, and I feel a tingle shoot down my spine. I love it.

When I get to my bedroom and look out the window, I see Clarke’s car do a U-turn and start to go back the way we came from. So her house is not on the way, after all.

That’s strange. Why would she go out of her way to take me home? I’m not going to complain, though.

A thought just crossed my mind. She took me home on Valentine’s day. It is almost like… dare I say it… a date.

Oh, I’m so silly! It’s nothing like a date! But she still took me home on Valentine’s day, it’s romantic. And the bare thought of that makes a wide smile appear on my face, even though I am still so cold.

That smile never falters as I start setting up the hot bath that I desperately need.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now this story is really free (i.e. lots of different things can happen) and open-ended, so if you do have any ideas as to what you want to see happen in this universe please don't hesitate to shout!  
> Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, and take care!


End file.
